Protection
by Venussail
Summary: Some people have bad things planned for Shuichi, but Hiro isn't about to let their plan follow through... YAOI, don't like don't read. HiroxShuici. Bad summary, better than it sounds. I forgot to put an ending A/N, but remember to R&R please!


A/N: Moshi moshi, mi-na! Now that I've updated my Inuyasha yaoi chapter fic, I've decided to upload another one of my yaoi oneshots. It's another Gravitation one, however this one is not meant to be humorous. It's a bit more action/adventure/drama with, of course, romance added in. Also, as mentioned in the description, it's the non-canon HiroxShuichi pairing (my second favorite pairing) and it takes place before the start of the series. Anyway, enough of my chatter, on with the fic!

Disclaimer: I lack the funds to buy the rights to such a wonderful series like Gravitation and being that the series didn't come from my brain, there's no way in hell I have them.

Protection

Shindou Shuichi was generally well-liked at school. Minus the occasional comment regarding his flamboyancy, he wasn't picked on. Even when he was, he knew he could always depend on his best friend, Nakano Hiroshi, to stick up for him and fend off the bullies, who as a rule were up front with their antagonizing. However, there was one group of jocks (A/N: All of whom will go unnamed throughout this fic) who were much more subtle.

They were typical jocks in almost every way- not the brightest, short-tempered and unaccepting of the unathletic, feminine guys like Shuichi. Despite this, they hadn't directly picked on Shuichi after the first incident.

----Flashback----

"Alright, pack it in!" the P.E. coach shouted as he blew the whistle

The boys' gym class started to jog it in. Shuichi was pretty fast, so he was one of the first to arrive in the locker room. A group of jocks followed shortly after and walked up to him (A/N: He had already finished dressing at this point) with evil smirks on their faces. One of them grabbed Shuichi by the shoulder, turned him around and slammed him against the locker.

"I see the little fairy couldn't wait to rush to the locker room," the biggest one who was holding Shuichi up against the locker mocked.

"He probably just wanted to get dressed quickly so he could watch the other dudes changing," another one commented.

"That's not true! I'm not gay!" the future pop singer shouted at the top of his lungs (A/N: Wow, lots of these. Anyway, I don't think Shuichi was aware of his sexuality in high school- at least that's what I've gathered from the show and reading other peoples' fics).

"Sure you aren't, homo," one of the jocks teased.

Another one opened a locker door, preparing to shove the small teen in. Just as the one currently holding Shuichi was about to do so, a fist came in contact with his face, causing him to drop the pink-haired boy.

The fist belonged to none other than Hiro, who was fuming as he stood in front of his best friend. Though no one knows for sure how he obtained it, Hiro had a reputation for being a pretty good fighter, even when he was outnumbered and especially when a friend or family member was in danger. The bullies looked at how furious he was and decided it might be a better idea to back off. They walked away, glaring one last time at Hiro before exiting the locker room. Hiro checked to make sure Shuichi was okay and assured him that he would see to it that they never messed with either of them again.

----End Flashback----

Now, the jocks did nothing but sit in a corner and send hateful glares the way of the future members of Bad Luck while they made nasty comments between themselves about the pair. Shuichi was oblivious to these, but Hiro returned them with the same amount of malice the were sent with. When Shuichi asked him why he was glaring, he just shrugged it off and said it was nothing.

Things kept going that way for the better part of the school year, but something seemed to change once spring started. Hiro noticed that the hateful glares stopped coming and they had been replaced with evil, conniving looks followed by hand gestures that included punching their palms. On top of that, none of the looks were sent the red-head's way- they were all focused on his pink-haired friend. Hiro started to get the feeling that they were up to something and decided to keep an extra close eye on them.

----Scene Changed----

For about a month, Hiro had listened closely to the conversations the jocks were having to see if he could pick up on what their plans for his best friend might be, almost like a spy. Here's what he gathered:

They weren't going to bring any weapons save for one knife, which made Hiro slightly relieved and slightly worried at the same time. Any weapon is bad, but if it's just one Shuichi might have a better chance of escaping them when he was cornered- though Hiro wasn't planning on letting that happen. It was their plan, though. They were going to corner him on his way home from school and basically beat the snot out of him. It didn't sound like they were planning to stab him though, which made Hiro wonder what the point of the knife was. Normally, when knives aren't used for harm, they're used for intimidation purposes, so he figured that was their reason.

On the last day of the month he had been spying, he overheard that today was the day the jocks would put their plan into action. They had obviously played the part of spies too, as they seemed to have planned it around Shuici's detention schedule, which would make it dark by the time he started heading home. Shuichi had detention every other day for the next two weeks for pulling a prank on his math teacher and it started today. It was originally going to be everyday, but Shuichi put on a cute face and begged until it was changed to every other day.

Hiro stuck by the entrance of the school while Shuichi was in detention. He saw no signs of the jocks.

When the bell for detention let out, Shuichi quickly ran down the halls and out the doors to freedom. He and Hiro walked most of the way home together. When they came to the intersection where the streets they lived on split, Hiro offered to walk Shuichi the rest of the way home. Shuchi convinced Hiro he was fine and didn't need to be walked home after a bit of debate. Hiro sighed, relenting only because he figured that though he had not seen the jocks, they had been in the shadows waiting for the perfect moment and had seen him, which might make them re-think things, especially since Hiro made it clear with a look that there would be hell to pay if any of them laid a finger on Shuichi. It also helped that he planned to watch his best friend from afar, so Shuichi could still feel independent while an eye was kept on him and Hiro could feel calm knowing he was only a sprint away from being the (pun intended) "hero."

Shuichi was about to turn the corner to get to his house when the jocks jumped him. One of them grabbed him by the neck and held the knife up to his throat, warning him not to scream or he would be killed. Hiro made a mad dash to the scene, standing in between the guy who was about to throw a punch and Shuichi. Shuichi made an attempt to speak, but his mouth was covered by his captive.

"Let him go," Hiro demanded.

One of the thugs merely chuckled and attempted to punch him in the face, but Hiro grabbed his fist and turned him around, holding his arm behind his back.

"I've got one of yours and you've got mine- I can snap his neck just as easily as you can use that knife," the future guitarist threatened.

The jocks' faces turned serious and they exchanged looks. Slowly, the one holding Shuichi let go. However, Hiro didn't return the favor. He snapped the arm of the one he was holding and dropped him to the ground. He screamed in agony as his friends scampered off before crawling away, clutching his arm.

"Are you okay?" Hiro asked Shuichi once the guy with the broken arm was out of sight.

"I'm fine. My neck hurts a little though," Shuichi responded, rubbing his neck.

Hiro hugged him tightly and then kissed him.

"Hiro.... Why....?"

"Seeing you in that dangerous a situation made me realize why I'm so protective of you, why I'm always keeping such a close eye on you."

Shuichi gazed at his friend's face, reading the deep emotion signifying more than just the love of friend present there.

"Shuichi.... I love you." Hiro confessed as he felt tears well up in his eyes.

Now, Shuichi was oblivious to a lot of things, but he wasn't so oblivious that he didn't realize Hiro wasn't joking around.

"I love you too," Shuichi said with a great deal of heartfelt adoration.

The tears stopped and Hiro stared in shock for a moment. Shuichi chuckled. Hiro then lifted his chin up, put the other arm behind the small teen's back and engaged him in a passionate kiss that lasted until the two needed to break apart for air.

Hiro then decided that as a good boyfriend, he would walk Shuichi home that night and every night to follow thereafter. Nothing bad has happened to Shuichi since.


End file.
